Dusk
by Thought's Heart
Summary: Tragedy is critical to isolation, for only when you are alone do you understand who you truly are. Yet when adversity never relents, it seems as if you are losing who you are. And it seems that I am losing myself. Inch by inch, into the darkness that follows me.
1. Chapter 1: Bound

Chapter 1: Bound

It is quite a peculiar feeling when you are alone in the wilderness. It invokes a sense of peace that can only be experienced when you are away from civilization. Yet this peace is shattered by feelings of imminent doom upon the first howl of a wild pokémon. Doubly so if the pokémon that was meant to accompany you through your hardship has already abandoned you during the first night.

Such was my predicament.

I rolled under my covers, the notion of being mauled while asleep and having nothing to protect me was unsettling. Recognizing this I decided that I needed to at least search for my pokémon for the shared interest of safety.

Hastily I crawled out of my sleeping bag and made my way towards the thicket in an attempt to find my pokémon. My heart was racing, there could be anything in the dark and my struggles would be futile if it decided to attack. As I neared the tree line I decided to turn my flashlight on hoping that I would spot any assailant prior to entering the woods. The light beam illuminated the tree line and revealed a dark trail, I knew what it was yet felt the need to have a closer inspection. I edged cautiously towards the trail, the scent confirmed my thoughts. Blood.

I let out a sigh of resignation and walked back to my camp site. My pokémon was most likely dead and any search would end in heartbreak, something which I could very much go without given my already doomed journey.

I was stranded in route 203, defenseless and I withdrew into my covers hoping that sleep would take me away from the reality of my situation.

* * *

_Drip...Drip...Drip..._

I was awake, but was too frightened to move. In fact, I had heard it come to me. Its steps were short and labored and its breathing was deep and had an odd whistle to it.

I knew it was my pokémon but I also knew that something was wrong with it. Given the unbearable stench of its blood, it was impossible to think that his body was intact. It only stood there and watched.

Man finds true solace only in the company of his food, his drink and his sleep, any attempt otherwise leads only to suffering. Thus, it was very admirable display of loyalty on the part of my pokémon to not have the intention of waking me from my supposed slumber, despite the fact that he could potentially be on the verge of death. Likewise, I had no intention of "waking" from my "sleep", lest my heart break and perceptions of him be changed for the worse. In my mind he was always the adorable penguin with a charming personality and timely clumsiness. We had been reared together and shared a great deal of history. And to see anything otherwise would crush my heart.

Certainly a cowardly move, but to say otherwise would deem me a liar.

I laid still hoping that it would go away but some fifteen minutes passed and it maintained its position. My breath became shallow and my eyes began to tear as old memories resurfaced. It must have noticed for it attempted to say something to me. Its voice cracked and wheezed. I didn't move. It leaned in, I could feel him hovering over the side of my face, examining me. It attempted to say something once more, except this time it coughed.

Once.

Twice.

And then blood all over my cheek.

I let out shriek as I leapt on to my feet and bolted straight for the road; I ran without casting a glance backwards. My pokémon attempted to chase me but it couldn't. Its short and possibly torn limbs failed to give it the thrust that it desired and it fell on to my sleeping bag.

While running I realized that I had left all my belongings at the scene. I slowed down to think if it would be worthwhile to retrieve them. As I neared a halt I decided that I should go back. I had a better chance to survive in the wilderness if I had my gear and no pokémon rather than neither. As I turned around I realized that I couldn't expect my pokémon to leave so soon, it probably anticipated my return. After all, he was a smart penguin. I decided that I would wait here for a while and sat down. I glanced at my watch, it was still 3:30 a.m. I sighed and leaned into a tree.

As I gazed forward I noticed that I was wearing nothing but my boxers, not even a pair of socks protected my feet from the inevitable trek to wherever I travelled next. The need to retrieve my gear took on a new meaning.

The urgency of the situation made me very thirsty, and my heart rate was dropping while I rested, allowing me to hear a nearby stream. I decided that now was as good of a time as any for a drink and proceeded towards the stream, taking care to not step on twigs. As I approached the stream I could hear the faint crying of my pokémon get louder, almost as if he was searching for me, I was unsettled by it and decided that I was not thirsty after all.

I turned around and walked back to the road and towards my former camp. I could hear my pokémon begin to scream in frustration, he was very close. I broke into a sprint in the opposite direction so that I could put more distance between us. My priorities changed, I would much rather face the wild armed with nothing but my boxers than face my pokémon.

I ran long and hard before I couldn't hear my pokémon anymore. I wasn't sure what direction I was traveling in but hoped it wasn't towards Jubilife City. I summited a short hill and as if on cue, hundreds of shimmering skyscrapers revealed themselves. Out of them one stood out the most, a building approximately 800 meters tall which towered over its neighbours. The building was made of almost entirely glass but had thin stylistic spirals of steel wrapped around it. At the top was a large hologram of a green bowl of rice.

"Rigel Rice…" I muttered as I stared at the building. If I risked returning to Jubilife it was very likely that I would be found by the police, and be turned over to Rigel Rice. Alternatively, if I travelled towards Oreburgh, I might encounter my pokémon along the path. I kicked at the ground to vent my frustration. Just then I heard my pokémon's wailing once more. I tightened my fists as a response and prepared for a confrontation. My priorities changed once more, I would rather fight my pokémon than return to Jubilife. The wailing continued to get louder and then it abruptly stopped.

A light illuminated my surrounding and I whirled to see the source of it. A man was walking towards me with a flashlight in hand. Instinctively I put one of my hands between the light and my eyes and the other over my family jewels. The man noticed this and lowered his flashlight. I dropped my raised hand on top of my other hand and gazed at the man. He was old and ghostly pale, he was dressed in a brown suit and had a wild sort of feeling about him.

"Sorry for disturbing you," he said as his wrinkly lips curled into a warm smile, "you looked very frustrated and panicked and I was wondering if you need any help."

He looked into my eyes and seemed to know what I was feeling, this quality unsettled me but I stammered a response, "Uh…I don't know."

The old man chuckled and said, "I do not know what has happened exactly to you, but I know that there is something evil that lurks in these woods."

"How is that?" I questioned him. I was surprised that he characterized my pokémon as being evil, I assumed that it was just searching for me as I was the only person it could trust.

He chuckled once more as if it were fairly obvious, much to my disdain. He replied, "Something is… different about the woods tonight, if you live in the wilderness you develop a sense for these things. Likewise I can tell that you have lost your pokémon companion." The final bit startled me and I took a small step back. He noticed this and explained further "Your demeanour implies the loss of a pokémon and there is a distinct stench of death in the woods, naturally I would assume that your pokémon is… lost."

"He is not dead," I replied, "He was watching me as I slept and I suspect that he is following me."

The old man dropped his smile and gazed long and hard into my eyes. "Yes… you are telling the truth. I know that you do not desire to head to the city where it is safe, the reason for which I cannot discern. Nonetheless, you need protection if you head towards Oreburgh in case you encounter your companion." The man smiled and chuckled. "If that is the case… I shall help you…" As he said this his hand reached into his pocket and he pulled out a small dusk ball, in a very deliberate manner. "In this… dusk ball… a pokémon lies dormant, I shall give him to you." The old man held out his hand and smiled at me.

It was a genuine smile, but clearly had some sort of sinister motivation. It seemed to me as if I had played into one of his traps, for his entire approach did seem rather rehearsed. I suspected foul play yet I had no choice, I either took the dusk ball or I would die at the beak of my pokémon. The old man's smile seemed to stretch wider. I wasn't fond of another man holding such power over me, yet I was still a coward and chose the ball over death.

I slowly reached for the ball and as I moved closer I felt an invisible chain being drawn around my neck. My fingers wrapped around the ball and I noticed that the metal was abnormally cold. And then the knot was tied, the chain tightened around my neck and I was shackled to a destiny that I had lost control over. It was the beginning of the end.

I sighed and as I pulled my hand away my hand brushed against his open palm, but resulted in no sensation. I didn't think much of it and instead looked at the ball.

It was old. Very old. The metal was scratched all over and the hinge was nearly broken. The paint was also faded. I tossed the ball up and caught it, to my surprise it made rattling noises, much like a chain does.

I looked towards the man and fell back in shock. He had vanished leaving nothing behind. I looked around in a confused manner before it dawned on me, "He wasn't real…" I muttered as I stared at the dusk ball, "yet this is…"

I glanced at my watch and over an hour had passed since I last checked the time. I glanced back at the dusk ball and moved it around in my hand, it was still cold.

Frustrated I grabbed the ball and pocketed it. I listened for my former pokémon and didn't hear it. Taking comfort in this I decided to walk towards Oreburgh as I mused over the mystery of the old man and his dusk ball.

Every step that I took made the chain rattle.

**A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it!**


	2. Chapter 2: Red in the Dark

**A/N: Chapters won't always come out this quickly, March Break just happens to leave me with a lot of free time.**

Chapter 2: Red in the Dark

I made a point to land softly on the grass alongside the road so that my feet would be cushioned, as I was walking in my socks. It also served to reduce any sound that I made which was a plus as I had no interest in a conflict with a pokémon given that my new pokéball did not function. My method had worked for the past hour or so and I had made significant progress, taking care to travel around my campsite lest there be something terrible in store for me.

I tried to avoid thinking of my dead pokémon as it saddened me to do so. We had shared more than a year of history prior to setting out on this journey, and dwelling on it only made me more volatile and less aware of my surroundings.

The sun's rays were beginning to peak over the mountains that dotted the horizon, sunrise was near. I glanced towards Mt. Coronet, it dwarfed the neighboring mountains easily standing three to four times taller than the rest. Nearly the entire mountain was clad in ice and snow and its peak was shrouded in thick white clouds.

Mt. Coronet was notorious for its death rate, even in the summer it could top 50%, and during the winter it was nearly impossible, having only one or two successful documented ascents. Winter would seemingly come earlier this year, for the mountain had already been barred from hikers. They would have to wait until summer for hiking season to start up again, and so would I if I had any interest in catching exclusive wild pokémon found only on the face of the mountain.

I didn't concern myself with that notion, I didn't have my eyes on any pokémon exclusive to Mt. Coronet so I wouldn't be affected, and I could still use the caves to navigate to eastern Sinnoh. Gyarados, garchomp, gallade, lucario, empoleon, and a chatot are what I had in mind. Why the chatot? Well, I figured that my team would be too unrealistic if I had another strong pokémon.

As I continued my solemn march, my mind wandered to the contents of my pokéball, how would that fit into my team? It most certainly had to be an ice or ghost type pokémon for the ball to remain cold for so long. Yet, I was under the impression that a ball would not adapt characteristics of its resident pokémon. Nonetheless, it had to be a nocturnal pokémon to justify the use of a dusk ball. Perhaps a frosslass?

Sudden movement in the thicket caught the attention of my eye. I turned and watched as a large bidoof leapt out of the bush and scampered across the road. Odd, I thought to myself. As I took my next step a human jumped out of the bush and dashed after presumably his bidoof. I glanced back from where the two emerged from and could see a small campsite behind the bushes as they were settling back into place.

I stopped and took a look at myself. I was wearing white socks and boxers and a slightly oversized plain white t-shirt, both had spots of dirt on them from falling during the night. I was ill prepared to survive in the wild, and with winter coming my attire would not suffice. I glanced back at the campsite and a devious smile crept onto my face.

Immediately I strode towards the campsite. There was bright orange sleeping bag near the fire and his large orange duffel bag was open right beside it. I rummaged through his bags and took several shirts and pairs of pants.

I picked out a blue pair of jeans and a nice black t-shirt to put on. I tossed on an orange hoodie which I thought looked disgusting but it was the only one he had. I peeled my socks off and found a nice fresh pair for my feet. I found a pair of ugly orange running shoes, and reluctantly put them on. I looked at myself and noticed that his clothing was slightly too small for me. I shrugged and decided that I had to deal with this inconvenience.

I slung a few more of his clothes over my shoulder and prepared to leave, before I realized that I may as well take his whole bag if I am to rob him. I made my way back to his bag and tossed his clothing inside, zipped the bag, hoisted the bag over my shoulder and returned on my way.

I hesitated as the guilt began to settle in. I mused over the consequences for him, at most he would die from the cold, but that was unlikely because his bidoof looked fat enough to keep him warm, but what if it wasn't is bidoof. I sighed. I did not want a person to die for my own gain, but inconvenience for them mattered not to me.

I prepared to toss a sweater and pair of pants on to his sleeping bag before I heard rustling in the bush, followed by a human voice. "Ughh! That bidoof could totally have been mine!" He vented as he neared the clearing. If I stayed to toss the clothes I would surely be caught, I pulled my hand away from the bag and dashed into the woods.

I travelled only a few metres before I heard a cry from behind me. "My pokémon!"

I stopped. This was bad, I had to return his pokémon otherwise I would be detained at a Pokémon Centre, and the other kid could possibly die out here. Confrontation was not an option for he would likely demand the rest of his belongings. I set the bag down and opened one of the outer pockets, and inside it discovered one pokéball. I took the ball out and edged towards the clearing. My plan was simple, I would toss it and run.

"Starly, go!" I couldn't see it but I heard him release his starly, escape had just gotten a whole lot harder. As he briefed his starly my hand wandered into my pocket and drew my dusk ball. The worn pokéball looked very old, certainly the beast that it entails would be equally old.

Just then his starly squawked at my direction. I sighed and answered with a bold step out of the bush. The kid turned wide eyed as he prepared to lunge at me.

"Stop right there." I commanded in a calm voice. The kid immediately stopped as he stared into my eyes with hate. I surprised myself with the firmness of my voice and couldn't help but smile at him. "I will give you your pokémon," I said as I showed him the small red and white orb, "however, I shall keep the rest of your belongings." I knew the last part was necessary in order to come off as strong, for if I made such a strong claim, clearly I had the means to back it.

"To hell with you and to hell with you deal! I demand all of my stuff!" He yelled as he walked towards me and tried to look as large as he could. His face was a bright red and it wasn't very intimidating. His starly flew behind him and flared its wings menacingly at me.

"Listen," I said in my calmest voice, but in the inside I quaked with fear and excitement, "I do not wish for a conflict. Merely out of my own goodwill I have decided to return your pokémon. But, if it's a confrontation you want…" at that I brandished my dusk ball and pressed the button to enlarge it, "I hope that I do not disappoint" I smiled confidently at him. His eyes wandered towards the dusk ball and he appeared much more cautious, he knew that the pokémon inside would certainly be old and therefore powerful.

He took a step back in resignation and said, "Look, I just want my stuff back. If you are going to rob me off all my stuff fine, just give me my pokémon back." He looked pleadingly at my eyes. I noticed how he seemed to victimize himself but decided not to call him out on it.

"Of course!" I replied and gracefully grabbed his hand and placed his pokéball in it. I closed his hand gently and smiled at him, "Since you are such a cooperative individual I will offer you a sweater to help you stay warm."

I let go of his hand and pulled out a sweater from his bag and gave it to him. "Here" I said and turned around and walked in the direction of the road. As I approached the halfway mark, I looked over my shoulder and flashed him a smile, "I bid you farewell my friend!"

My heart was still racing. The skills I had learned from my childhood had certainly paid off, but I doubted if they justified how miserable it was. I decided not to dwell on the past but rather relish in my accomplishment.

* * *

It was well into the afternoon now and I had covered a lot more distance now that I was wearing shoes. I could see Oreburgh gate roughly a kilometre from where I stood. I hadn't encountered any other human along my path and no pokémon other than the occasional bidoof. I had rested once for around thirty minutes and found a large stockpile of food in the kid's bag, I indulged in two sandwiches and emptied his water bottle. I didn't feel much guilt, after all I did potentially save him from dying due to the cold.

As I approached the gate I noticed a small crowd gathered at the front of it. They were being talked to by a couple of rough looking individuals dressed in a uniform, which I couldn't make out from this distance. They didn't look like Team Galactic so I ruled out the possibility that they would steal any pokémon, as most criminals in Sinnoh had been absorbed by Team Galactic due to the political protection that they offered their members, for team Galactic was, and still is, a very popular political party in addition to a crime syndicate.

I walked into the crowd and edged my way to the front. The men were police officers from Jubilife donned in their distinct brown and yellow uniform. They were examining each individual as they entered the tunnel. They were looking for an individual with dark brown hair and brown eyes, standing 180 cm tall accompanied by a piplup, and then they provided a list of possible clothes that he could be wearing based off the clothes that were missing from his wardrobe. Which all happened to be my clothes, the ones that I had left at my camp. I stepped away from the ground lest my panic reveal my identity.

As I paced around I walked into earshot of a girl talking to one of the officers.

"…to ask such a dumb question-"

"Nonsense! There is no such thing as a dumb question!" The officer heartily laughed.

"Oh, thank you for that. Anyway, why is it that you are not allowed to detain this 'Celric' person if he leaves the Jubilife jurisdiction?" the girl asked the officer.

"Well, you must have learned in class that the cities of Sinnoh have a lot of autonomy, and the government of the entire region is more so a loose coalition, a union of sorts as opposed to what you would see in other regions. As such other city states, if you will, do not interfere in the domestic affairs of others, therefore the police of Oreburgh have no obligation, nor are they permitted by law to detain an individual once they cross into a new city. Unless of course they have criminal charges laid against them, which fortunately isn't the case for our target."

I noticed that he called me a target rather than by my name and attributed it to him sowing the seeds of some sort of defamation campaign against me, by not referring to me as a human. I quickly brushed off that thought as being too critical. I lost interest in their conversation and walked away towards the pond to examine my appearance.

"Hey you!" one of the officers yelled after me.

I turned around and must have looked very shocked but fortunately I was quite a distance away and he wouldn't be able to discern my expression. I relaxed my face and walked towards the officer. As I neared him the first thing he said, "You look awfully calm. I mean, an officer just called you" I flinched at that and he laughed. "You resemble the description of the child we are to detain." I sighed, it could all quite possibly be over within the first twenty four hours.

"How tall are you?" He asked as he pulled out a notepad from his pocket.

Before answering I looked at the bright orange shoes I was wearing, they easily added a bit to my height, "183 cm" I replied.

"Your hair is brown and your eyes are brown as well. You also don't seem to be wearing any of the outfits that are possible for our target." They did it again.

"How many pokémon do you have?"

"1" I replied.

"May I see your pokémon?" My heart skipped a beat. Firstly it was due to the loss of my pokémon, and secondly and more importantly because whatever pokémon I had would not exit the ball.

"Uhh… sure" I mumbled and I pulled out my pokéball. The officer looked genuinely surprised.

"Whoa, that must be one hell of an old pokémon! I am also certain that it isn't a piplup!" the officer replied as he stared at the ball for a while. "Anyway, you seem to look similar to the individual we are searching for, but you definitely don't meet certain criteria. You are free to pass!" He concluded and handed me a token to present at the gate. "Good luck on your journey!"

"Thank you, officer," I replied as I made my way to the gate. I could not believe it, did they not have an image of me to compare with? I also found it strange that they didn't just ask me for id. I approached one of the officers standing at the entrance of the tunnel and showed him the token. He looked suspiciously at me and then back at the other officer, I followed his gaze and saw the other officer nod. My pulse quickened as I prepare to make a dash for the gate if need be. The officer just nodded at me and pointed at the tunnel.

I was taken aback, surely some sort of bribery had occurred here, but who would bribe them to let me pass? I took a step forward and gazed back suspiciously, the guard at the entrance noticed and said, "One more second and I will turn you in." Needless to say, I quickly walked into the cave. It was bright at the entrance, but it got darker the further down you went, however, it wasn't dark enough that you would need a flashlight. The edges of the cave were brown and had been smoothed to reduce risk of injury in case anyone fell.

I was confused. Very much so. I walked for a few minutes in the cave as I went through possible people who could have paid the bribe. To humour myself I concluded that it was that one cute girl who looked at me once outside the cave. But the question came back once more, could it have been the old man from last night? Possibly, but he wasn't real, yet that didn't explain the dusk ball. As I thought of the dusk ball I decided to try and find out the contents of it.

I tossed the ball in the air and it fell down to the ground in the same manner it did the last time. I tried another time but was greeted by the same response. Frustrated I threw the ball against the wall, it bounced off and rolled into the darkness.

I immediately regretted it.

I could hear the cry of my dead pokémon coming from deep within the bowels of the cave. It was slowly getting louder. I gulped as I moved in the direction the ball rolled. While I looked around for the ball I searched with my other hand for a flashlight in my bag.

It was getting louder, which meant that it was getting closer. Just then a thought crossed my mind, what if my piplup had paid the bribe to isolate me and murder me in the cave? I audibly laughed at how stupid the idea was, but my searching became more frantic. I got on my knees and crawled around, my hand had failed to find a flashlight.

My hands felt the stone to help me find the ball in case my eyes missed it. Sweat dripped down my face as the horrifying methods of my death played out before me. Would he tear my throat open with his beak? Or perhaps he would torture me for ages? I certainly wished for the former.

My pokémon got louder still. And then all of a sudden it stopped.

I sighed in relief, it was gone. I wiped the sweat off of my face was about to laugh out loud to make the situation seem normal.

_Drip...Drip…Drip…_

I could hear its breathing, it was the same as before. Short and labored. I screamed as I ran forward. My legs kicked me forward as I attempted my best to flee. I made it a grand total of three steps before I tripped on a stone and crashed into the stone. I let out a distinct swear and spread my hands out to push me up. As my left hand spread out I felt the distinctly cold metal of my dusk ball brush against my fingers. The cold feel of it was comforting and invigorating.

Empowered, I grabbed the ball, whirled around and tossed it in the air. "Don't fail me!" I yelled with all my power. The ball spun in the air and then landed on the ground just as it always did.

I was speechless, dumbfounded really. Either there was no pokémon inside the ball or it didn't want to answer me. I feel backwards to the ground and I gazed back into the darkness.

_Drip…Drip…Drip…_

I could make out the figure of my little penguin marching towards me, he was made distinct by his glowing white eyes.

"Why are your eyes glowing?" I realized and asked expecting a response from a pokémon. Of course, it did not respond and walked towards me slowly. I could make out several holes in his body now. They appeared to be formed from a savage battle against an equally savage pokémon.

I gulped in fear. This was it. As I prepared to die I felt that I would wrong my ancestors by going down without a fight. "I have too much left to do… I was born with a purpose… and it is my duty to enact it. I refuse to die!" I yelled at my piplup in defiance as I got onto my feet, howled and charged at it.

I hardly covered any distance before my piplup vanished. I slowed down and stared in front of me. What had just happened?

I looked around and saw nothing. Confused I took cautious steps towards the location of my piplup. I saw my dusk ball lying on the ground near the point my piplup had reached. I then noticed a floating red orb that swayed from side to side fade out of the darkness. Slowly a skull began to materialize before it and a ghostly robe like body formed behind it with an odd wavy smoke like material billowing out of its crown. It spun around and I could see two bones lined across its back. It floated towards me and its single red eye examined me as it swayed comically from side to side.

"…Dusk"

**A/N: We have found out what lives within the dusk ball now, so that's one major question that won't bother you anymore! However, there are a few more hints I dropped through this chapter about the future and the past. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading!**


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